Shaw Rising

Official Trailer

The Story

December 1865 was a bitter month in Raleigh, North Carolina. Sherman had rolled through with his Union army in March. Joe Johnston surrendered nearly 90,000 rebel soldiers to him in April, up the road at Durham Station.

And yet, in the embittered Raleigh in December 1865, Henry Martin Tupper founded Shaw University, the first college for black students in the South. Shaw Rising is the story of the history and impact of Shaw on the course of education and racial justice in United States.

Under the leadership of Dr. Tupper, Shaw grew to embrace co-education and founded schools in medicine, pharmacology, law and divinity.

Along the way, the University adapted to changes in the social dynamic of the South, including Reconstruction and Jim Crow.

As the Civil Rights Movement gained momentum, Shaw became the birthplace of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in 1960. SNCC was instrumental in drawing students to the March on Washington, staging cafeteria sit-ins and registering voters with the Freedom Riders.

Today, Shaw University continues to epitomize the aspirations, accomplishments and challenges of historically black colleges (HBCUs) in America.

Cast

This documentary is indebted to all the people who participated in interviews conducted at Estey Hall on the campus of Shaw University in March and September of 2016.

Dr. Tashni Dubroy – President, Shaw University

Dr. David Forbes – Dean, Divinity School / Founding member of SNCC

Dr. Crystal DeGregory – Historian

Ahmed Tejan-Cole – Professor of History, Shaw University

Rashad Abdul-Muhaimin – Shaw University, Class of 1979

Dr. Katherine Mellen Charron – Professor of History, North Carolina State University